Dinner on Balcony Too cold? and Ultimate Balcony Dining on Princess?

[azguy]

My wife and I are scheduled for an Alaskan cruise on Princess starting June 11th. It is a 7 day cruise so my understanding is that we should expect 2 formal nights.

 

While we appreciate that many people go along with the program and play dress up on these nights, we are not real excited about dressing up on our vacation. We do not wish to pack the stuff as we will be doing 7 days of touring before hand and we dress up for work.

 

So, we were considering having dinner on our balcony. For those who have done it, is it too d* cold for that? Will we be comfortable?

 

Also, reading the Princess material there appears to be an option for an extra charge to have dinner on the balcony, called "Ultimate balcony dining." What is the difference between this and just normal room service?

 

Thanks for your time.

[CruiserFromAK]

Right now it is 70-75 mostly all over AK so it should be a great summer by June and might be down-right hot! :) Just bring a sweater or shawl for the breeze coming off the water and you should be way comfortable and it will be a beautiful dinner!! :)

[Bassnote_1]

Right now it is 70-75 mostly all over AK so it should be a great summer by June and might be down-right hot! :) Just bring a sweater or shawl for the breeze coming off the water and you should be way comfortable and it will be a beautiful dinner!! :)

 

70-75????:eek:

 

Make room inna igloo, Imma come up and move in. Been snowing here in WY since last Thursday and not much over 35 for highs.

 

Anybody wanna buy me a life time Caribbean Cruise Package?:D

[CruiseIsGood]

The formal nights are usually at sea nights. It will be probably be chilly. You can also have dinner in your room, so don't worry about it. If it's nice, balcony. If not, inside. If you're worried about an extra charge (I haven't sailed Princess), you can always go to the buffet and take it back to the room.

 

I got my parents an extra-wide balcony on our last June sailing in 2003. My mother never used it. She thought it was too cold. Different people have different tolerances for cold.

[chalky_bertie]

My wife and I are scheduled for an Alaskan cruise on Princess starting June 11th. It is a 7 day cruise so my understanding is that we should expect 2 formal nights.

 

While we appreciate that many people go along with the program and play dress up on these nights, we are not real excited about dressing up on our vacation. We do not wish to pack the stuff as we will be doing 7 days of touring before hand and we dress up for work.

 

So, we were considering having dinner on our balcony. For those who have done it, is it too d* cold for that? Will we be comfortable?

 

Also, reading the Princess material there appears to be an option for an extra charge to have dinner on the balcony, called "Ultimate balcony dining." What is the difference between this and just normal room service?

 

Thanks for your time.

 

I feel the same, I don't go on holiday to take my best suit and tie, i go to relax and as we are travelling from the UK and have a week either side of the cruise why should i struggle with my best clothes. We shall not be going to the formal nights on RCCL - we will either have room service or hopefully go somewhere else.

[Budget Queen]

It probably will be too cold. There is a big difference in temps in ports and on the water. There were some posts that Princess no longer offers the dining meal for room service- only to full suite passengers? So if you want more than the room service menu your "balcony dining" offer is probably worth the extra cost.

[John L.]

My last Princess cruise was on the Grand and I remember going to the buffet after the evening show for a snack and seeing a duplicate of the food in the dinning room. If there was something very tasty, I would have a small plate of it again. If you do decide to eat at the buffet you will not be looking at something second rate.

We've always dressed in a tux in the past, but we are slowly dressing down. I take a sports coat now and don't feel so much out of place. We were on NCL Dawn the year before out of NY City and people came dressed to "formal nite" like they were taking the kids for pizza or to MacDonalds. I think that in not the too distant future, the formallity will be eliminated. There are too many young people with kids cruisin and it is just too much bother...Just MHO.

 

John L.

[Love Cruis'n]

Conversely, it seems like when we are on a cruise, is one of the only times I get to wear a tux, and I look forward to, and enjoy it. Sure, I have to re-read the little instructions on how to tie the bow tie :cool: , and wear my tux shoes for a couple days around the house to break them in again, :eek: and of course I need to take off a few pounds to make sure it all fits. :eek: :eek: All part of our cruise ritual.

I guess it's just different strokes...

:rolleyes:

[cruiser2004]

AZGUY,

Last year on an Alaskan cruise we requested the regular dinner menu for in-room (mini-suite) dining and had no problem. I can't speak as to what the current Princess policy is.

[tetleytea]

I'd think the issue on the balcony isn't the cold, but all the doggone WIND. Are napkins optional?

[sredish]

Hey AZGuy, it looks like you guys will be on the same cruise with my husband and I. I believe I "spoke" to you before, we're also from Scottsdale, AZ (but are forced to live in Texas).

 

Anyway, just wanted to say, hey. And I guess we'll be seeing you guys in about a month and a half.

[azguy]

Hey AZGuy, it looks like you guys will be on the same cruise with my husband and I. I believe I "spoke" to you before, we're also from Scottsdale, AZ (but are forced to live in Texas).

 

Anyway, just wanted to say, hey. And I guess we'll be seeing you guys in about a month and a half.

 

Hi sredish,

 

Thanks for the note. Yes, I think we corresponded early on when I started seeking out info.

 

I started a ROLL CALL on the Princess section but thus far no one has responded. I assume I titled it correctly and followed the right protocol. I see people before us and people after us for the cruises (i.e. north/south bound cruises) but not our week.

 

Every night I come home I tell my wife, "Yep, that Alaska cruise is right around the corner." I'm so worried that I have over-looked some small details but I guess we're all set. From what I gather, if anything we have probably scheduled our activities to end a bit earlier leaving us with a lot of daylight left to spend.

 

Hope we cross paths on the cruise.

 

azguy

[sredish]

Hi sredish,

 

Thanks for the note. Yes, I think we corresponded early on when I started seeking out info.

 

I started a ROLL CALL on the Princess section but thus far no one has responded. I assume I titled it correctly and followed the right protocol. I see people before us and people after us for the cruises (i.e. north/south bound cruises) but not our week.

 

Every night I come home I tell my wife, "Yep, that Alaska cruise is right around the corner." I'm so worried that I have over-looked some small details but I guess we're all set. From what I gather, if anything we have probably scheduled our activities to end a bit earlier leaving us with a lot of daylight left to spend.

 

Hope we cross paths on the cruise.

 

azguy

 

I know the feeling...it's getting close. I'm excited but getting nervous. It's our first cruise and I'm not sure what to expect. I am very pleased with our cabin assignment, we're on the Lido deck, and I've heard that it's a good one because it's the top deck and nobody can look down on our balcony from above.

 

We're planning on hiking ourselves in Juneau on Mt. Roberts and catching a taxi or bus to get out to Mendenhall Glacier. In Skagway we rented a car and are planning a drive out to Emerald Lake. In Ketchikan we are kayaking with Southeast Sea Kayaks out to Orca's Cove (limited to only 6 people, woohoo!!). For Victoria, I signed us up for the Haunted Graveyard and Ghost tour. We took one of those in New Orleans and had fun, they're hokey, but fun.

 

We signed up for the PC dining instead of the traditional. Call me crazy, but I'm not all about dining with a bunch of strangers. What if I don't like them? Or if they don't like me? Too stressful.

 

I agree with you about the formal nights. I think that we may just do the room service thing or get something off the buffet. It seems a little too "prom-ish", but I've been told it's fun. Just not my cup of tea.

 

My travel agent called me today and said that she received our cruise documents, so I guess it's really getting close.

 

Oh, and about the Roll Call. There is already one started for our cruise. It sometimes slips down to page 4 or 5. There is only about 10 people who are talking on it, and one lady said that she checked on Travelocity and there are several staterooms still open, so we're all hoping for a light passenger load. More room for us!

 

Not to insult anyone, but I hope there are some people near our age (27 and 29) and not mostly an older crowd.

[Len3]

:) We're sailing on the Sun Princess on August lst followed by a 3 night land tour. No room for formal attire on this itinerary - so it's in the room, on the balcony or at the buffet. Happy Sailings!!!!!

[azguy]

I know the feeling...it's getting close. I'm excited but getting nervous. It's our first cruise and I'm not sure what to expect. I am very pleased with our cabin assignment, we're on the Lido deck, and I've heard that it's a good one because it's the top deck and nobody can look down on our balcony from above.

 

We're planning on hiking ourselves in Juneau on Mt. Roberts and catching a taxi or bus to get out to Mendenhall Glacier. In Skagway we rented a car and are planning a drive out to Emerald Lake. In Ketchikan we are kayaking with Southeast Sea Kayaks out to Orca's Cove (limited to only 6 people, woohoo!!). For Victoria, I signed us up for the Haunted Graveyard and Ghost tour. We took one of those in New Orleans and had fun, they're hokey, but fun.

 

We signed up for the PC dining instead of the traditional. Call me crazy, but I'm not all about dining with a bunch of strangers. What if I don't like them? Or if they don't like me? Too stressful.

 

I agree with you about the formal nights. I think that we may just do the room service thing or get something off the buffet. It seems a little too "prom-ish", but I've been told it's fun. Just not my cup of tea.

 

My travel agent called me today and said that she received our cruise documents, so I guess it's really getting close.

 

Oh, and about the Roll Call. There is already one started for our cruise. It sometimes slips down to page 4 or 5. There is only about 10 people who are talking on it, and one lady said that she checked on Travelocity and there are several staterooms still open, so we're all hoping for a light passenger load. More room for us!

 

Not to insult anyone, but I hope there are some people near our age (27 and 29) and not mostly an older crowd.

 

Thanks for the response. We're doing Captain Larry's whale watching cruise in Juneau and we're going to try to squeeze in Mendenhall and/or the Tram. In Ketchikan there is a good chance we may be two of the other six in your kayaking. We're doing the same thing with Orca with the same company. In Skagway we are doing the train in the morning and then renting the car to Emerald Lake drive afterwards. We couldn't narrow it down so we decided to do both.

 

We're doing the PC dining for the same reasons. We may ask for a table that can accomodate more people on certain nights, especially b/c my wife enjoys meeting/greeting. I talk to people all day at work so I'm fine being a recluse on my vacation. :)

 

Funny about the Roll Call. I searched and searched before posting ours and all I could find were the cruises the week before/after ours. I'll look again. Thanks for the heads-up.

 

Know what you mean about the age bracket. My wife and I are 31 and 30 (both look younger) and we're hoping to meet a few folks around our age.

 

Here's to a fun cruise.

[sredish]

How's the weather there? It's freezing and raining...I just adore Texas weather.:mad:

 

Well, looks like we're probably kayaking together. My husband, Scott, is tall with dark hair underneath a permanent Fox Racing hat, and I'm shorter than him with red hair (no hat). I'll keep an eye out for you sneaking around in bermuda shorts on formal nights to the buffet...

 

Stacey

[gmasters]

I have no idea what you people call cold, we live in Virginia and as of today its 52 this morning and Im sitting on our back deck having coffee and reading this web site. unless the rain is frozen on our deck we will enjoy most of the days that we are underway sitting and just relaxing on the balcony.

 

as for dressing up, we wear what we want. and dont wear anything most of the time once we get home. So for dressing up for dinner it seems that the cruise lines should have worked its way out of this long time ago.

 

MY husband has always liked the better places to eat so even on the NCL we will bring fairly nice DRESS UP clothes but he leaves his tie's at work doesnt even but it on until he is at the office

 

Donna

 

do you even go out when the temp is 50